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George Barati: Honolulu Symphony conductor… and perhaps exotica composer?
Did Maestro George Barati dabble in composing exoticaesque pieces? This bio seems to indicate he may have:
As a composer, George Barati wrote fine music in a modern European tradition. During his stay in Hawaii, he studied native melodic and rhythImic patterns of exotic South Sea islands, and these found reflection in some of his works of the period.
Barati, a 1965 Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, conducted the Honolulu Symphony during the period that saw Statehood and the rise/fall of Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman, Augie Colon, The Tropicals, Gene Rains, Alfred Apaka and other exotica artists. Barati’s HSO tenure lasted from 1950-1968, so it seems entirely possible that he could have done some exotica orchestrating, arranging, or composing.
Please comment if you are familiar with any George Barati works that are exotic in instrumentation, melody, nuance, rhythm, etc…
Famous Vibists Who Preceded Mr. Lyman
A few days ago, I headed down to the Hawai’i State Library to do conduct some exotica and mixology research and came across a Nov. 12, 1961 article in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin mentioning that weekend’s Honolulu Symphony program. Among the featured performers was Jack Conner, a mallet player who was previously a member of the St. Louis Symphony, and later soloist with the Xavier Cugat Orchestra. I thought it interesting that the Honolulu Symphony would have a vibraphone soloist as its guest artist—given the popularity of the instrument during that time period in exotica (pop) music. I wonder if the Symphony players viewed the program as being more of a Pops concert or a regular classical one, and to what extent exotica’s popularity helped further Mr. Conner’s career as a vibes soloist. (It’d be a good conversation to have with him, although unfortunately I am about a decade too late; Mr. Conner passed away in 2001… obit is here).
But what precipitated the surge of vibraphonists in popular music? In his University of North Texas DMA dissertation titled, Extended Performance Techniques and Compositional Style in the Solo Concert Vibraphone Music of Christopher Deane, vibraphonist and composer Joshua Smith suggests the vibes’ roots stem from 1920s-era vaudeville performers like Louis Frank Chiha. Not surprising, since the vibes themselves were invented by Leedy around 1916, and rejiggered by Deagan in 1927 for its legendary Model 145. Dr. Smith writes,
The spread of vibraphone popularity is a direct result of the first commercial recording of the instrument, which occurred around 1924. At that time a popular vaudeville circuit artist named Louis Frank Chiha (also known as “Signor Friscoe”) recorded Aloha Oe and Gypsy Love Song using the Leedy vibraphone with revolving-disc pulsators. The popularity of Aloha Oe produced an influx of orders for the Leedy vibraphone. By the middle 1920’s, the vibraphone was an integral part of the dance orchestra.
Whoa. Hold on there… the pre-exotica popularity of the vibes can still be attributed to Hawaiian music? No way! Chiha’s 1924 recording predates the Gabby Pahinui recordings of “Ahulili” and “Hame Pila” I wrote about in 2007. Far out!!!
This is a subject, no doubt, this blog will return to. In the meantime, check out this compilation album of jazz vibists from ’37-’55!
Harold Chang is THE MAN
Last week, I had the incredible opportunity to gig with Harold Chang, last remaining musician from the original Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman bands. If you’re an exotica fan, you have definitely heard him play, though you may not know him by name; he’s uncredited on both the mono and stereo editions of Martin Denny’s EXOTICA, the album that started it all.
The opportunity to play with Uncle Harold, as we affectionately call him, arose when our regular percussionist Lopaka Colon said he couldn’t make one of our tour days. We had been hoping that Harold would come down and sit-in with us on a tune or two anyways, but the chance to play several shows with him really would take the cake.
Harold accompanied Lopaka to our rehearsal to meet the guys and check out the band. At first, it was a little nerve-wracking for me to rehearse with him present—after all, his contributions to the Denny and Lyman sound made exotica what it was. He was very enthusiastic and complimentary of our work though, even contributing some pointers to Helen on how to play the ocean drum and other percussion toys. Otherwise, he just observed, and didn’t play at all.
Two days later, we got a taste of what he’s about. Whereas other percussionists would need to be told about the characteristics of exotica, in addition to the form, groove, and feel of the tunes, Harold needed none of that. He jumped right in, both in terms of the classic exotica ‘standards’ in our book (e.g. Coronation, Jungle Drums, Ruby, Similau, Mapuana, Adventures in Paradise, etc.) and our originals. Best of all… his bongo playing is killing!!!
Check out this video from one of our shows. He takes a bongo solo about 2/3 of the way through. Keep in mind that hand percussion is his “double” in comparison to drum kit. Apparently he hasn’t played a single percussion gig in at least 30 years, which is longer than nearly everyone in the band is old!!! Actually, it could be more like 50 years, given that he was in his 20s-30s when he recorded with Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman… I know there are guys in their 80s who gig, but how many of them take a gig on their double after not playing it for 30+ years?!? Only comparison I can think of is Serge Koussevitzky, who returned to playing the double bass after a long hiatus to conduct the Boston Symphony.
Last but not least… the show below was the THIRD show of that day! We had performed concerts at two high schools that morning and afternoon, which he also totally owned!! DAMN!!! More videos to be posted soon…
Also: Check out Jeff Chenault’s interview of uncle Harold, readable online here.